🌿Surviving Nursing School: The Hard Parts, The Silver Linings, and Everything In Between

Let’s be real. Nursing school isn’t for the weak. It’s a wild ride. It’ll stretch you, humble you, challenge you, and make you question all your life choices at 2AM with ten tabs open and one eye twitching. 😅 But you know what? It’s also one of the most beautiful and rewarding journeys you’ll ever take. And somewhere between the tears and the caffeine-fueled study nights, you realize that YOU are growing into someone you never thought you could be.

Here are some of the realest nursing school moments and the silver linings that made it all worth it.

The Breakdown Before an Exam

The Hard Part: Feeling like no matter how much you study, it’s never enough. Crying in the shower. Shaking in your seat before the test starts.

 The Silver Lining: You always knew more than you gave yourself credit for. That rush of relief after finishing? That was growth. Every test made you stronger, sharper, more resilient.

The Awkward Clinical Days

The Hard Part: Feeling like a burden. Not knowing what to say to patients. Standing in the corner while your preceptor flies around the unit.

The Silver Lining: You learned how to show up even when you were unsure. And one day, you realized you weren’t standing in the corner anymore... you were jumping in.

Study Nights That Turned Into All-Nighters

The Hard Part: Tired eyes. Empty coffee cups. Panic Googling “how to study for nursing exams in 10 minutes.”

The Silver Lining: The way you learned how to discipline yourself. To push through. To stay committed even when your brain was like, “Please stop.” That’s grit. That’s you becoming unstoppable.

Failing a Quiz (or two)

The Hard Part: That gut-punch feeling when your score is way lower than you hoped. The self-doubt creeps in fast.

The Silver Lining: It humbled you. It taught you to bounce back. You didn’t give up. You adjusted. You learned how to fail forward.

Feeling Alone Sometimes

The Hard Part: Watching other students form groups while you feel like the outsider. Comparing yourself and wondering if you’re behind.

The Silver Lining: Eventually, you found your people. Or maybe you became your own anchor. Either way, you found strength in the quiet moments, and you proved to yourself that you are never truly alone.

Impostor Syndrome

The Hard Part: Thinking, “I don’t belong here,” or “I’m not cut out for this.”

The Silver Lining: Those thoughts were lies, and every time you showed up anyway, you proved them wrong. And one day, you realized, “Wait... I do belong here.”

The Final Push to Graduation

The Hard Part: Burnout. Fear of NCLEX. Feeling like you’re crawling to the finish line.

The Silver Lining: You made it. You’re still standing. And you didn’t just survive. You became someone stronger, wiser, and more capable than ever before.

Here are my final thoughts. Nursing school was hard. No sugarcoating it. But it was also a season of growth, grit, and grace. You didn’t just earn a degree. You earned every tear, every laugh, every 6AM clinical, every 2% quiz curve, and every coffee-fueled study session. You became someone who can walk into chaos and bring calm. Someone who advocates, heals, and cares deeply. So if you’re in the thick of it, keep going. One class, one deep breath at a time. You’re not just becoming a nurse. You’re becoming you. The most powerful version of you.

With love,

A proud survivor of nursing school (who still can't believe it's over sometimes) 💙🩺

Sarah